Mark Thompson's Recent Activity

Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rother Valley Railway.

Yep. Fair point.

Mark Thompson liked Miff's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

I doubt it since if it’d been owned by the Historical Railway Estate they’d’ve had to regularly inspect it and carry out any essential works. This’d’ve been well known (like Chelfham Viaduct on the L&B) and any ownership transfer-agreement or...

Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rother Valley Railway.

Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rother Valley Railway.

Just wondering- considering that bridge 26 (Austens) spans a river, and the eastern bank is, and was, owned by RVR, as of June 2023, who nominally owned the bridge?

Mark Thompson liked bryemycaz's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

I notice at the questions section, it was mentioned that the relationship was still fraught, between the landowners and the railway. With them watching every move the railway makes, one mistake and they start shouting to the various agencies....

Mark Thompson liked FearOfManchester's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

You would think such an act of contempt and challenge against the due process of ownership handover would stir some keen action from the authorities to maintain faith in the ridiculous buereacracy of it all, what’s the point in following the...

Mark Thompson liked martin1656's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

I think he let the cat out of the bag, saying out loud what many thought, , They say the track laying is the easy part, looking at the various hurdles that have to be jumped, Cleary, that's the case, There's a mountain of paperwork and permits...

Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rother Valley Railway.

He was quite forthright. But however you slice it, it was a shocking act. I found the whole presentation excellent, clear, detailed and unflinching. However one does get the distinct impression that the EA has become a sprawling, bloated entity,...

Mark Thompson liked alastair's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

Thanks for the link. This is a long but extremely interesting video with loads of photos and plans with detailed explanations of how the level crossings, bridges etc will actually be constructed. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the...

Mark Thompson liked Breva's post in the thread GWSR General Discussion and Operations.

You might like to know that our infrastructure blog has resumed publication. The latest one is here: https://bridgestobroadway.blogspot.com/2025/06/cheltenham-racecourse-bridge-43-works.html (ignore the web adress title, that's historical)...

Mark Thompson replied to the thread Rother Valley Railway.

Ah, that warm, analogue sound you can only get from old measurements!

Mark Thompson liked James Hewett's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

Or indeed (subject to correction) - 3 miles, 4 furlongs, 1 chain and about 2 rods (which I guess is the way they'd have measured it at the time of construction - using real chains too) - Mr H. I think I still have one somewhere.... James

Mark Thompson liked Ben Jenden's post in the thread Bluebell Railway General Discussion.

66502 has also bought down the ballast I'm assuming that NR has given to the railway following a previous news story elsewhere a few weeks ago as part of R200. Probably part of said agreement was for a loco as part of the private event. Win win

Mark Thompson liked mikehartuk's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

The architectural style of the new station building at Robertsbridge is designed to follow the same style as the Colonel's station building at Tenterden - including the 'corrugated iron' roof covering. The roof covering we used on the toilet...

Mark Thompson liked Breva's post in the thread Rother Valley Railway.

I like the choice of brick - the colour is random. It would look like a new house in a housing estate if all the bricks were the same.